Janelle Monáe: Q.U.E.E.N. of Yardfest 2014

In the Women’s Center today, we have been blasting music. While working on planning some exciting events for post-Spring Break, we keep getting distracted and having a mini-dance party in the conference room. Why is this?

While breaking out into random dance spasms is not unusual behavior for me, I have been especially prone to it after the announcement made yesterday about Janelle Monáe coming to Harvard as the Yardfest artist. The news has been blowing up my newsfeed and blowing my mind ever since. So, can we just fast-forward to April 13th already?

Janelle Monáe may need no introduction for you, or you could be thinking “Who?” (maybe smiling, keeping your confusion to yourself, and then googling it on your phone as soon as possible, as I often do when people mention various musical artists…). Well, for anyone who needs a crash-course in who the Q.U.E.E.N. Janelle Monáe is, check out these five videos. After watching them, you will definitely start your Spring Break dance party.

Q.U.E.E.N feat. Erykah Badu

The song’s intro explains that Project Q.U.E.E.N. is “a musical weapons program of the 21st century. Researchers are still deciphering the nature of this program, and hunting the various freedom movements that wonderland disguised as songs, motion pictures, and works of art.”

Tightrope feat. Big Boi

“When you get elevated,

They love it or they hate it

You dance up on them haters

Keep getting funky on the scene”

Dance Apocalyptic

“I really really wanna thank you for dancing til the end”

Primetime ft. Miguel

“When you’re down, and you feel like you’ve given your all, our love will always keep it real and true”